Muslim F living abroad
Kinda looking for advice/ hope, kinda just getting it off my chest.
Background info: I am a 24y/o, my parents have lived away from our home country since we were very young and so we were brought up away from “home” so naturally we have a different approach to the world. Up until I had to move from university we had lived in the Middle East and then I moved to Europe alone to pursue my education.
Here’s the thing, I always knew there’s a price to pay no matter which path I picked. I knew being away from family, emotional stability, adopting a “strong independent woman” lifestyle etc etc will be the price of moving abroad alone.
WHAT I DIDN’T KNOW is how much that would affect other peoples perspective on whether I’m a “good match” or not. I’m looking to get married and the amount of times the fact that I live alone AND in Europe has been a dealbreaker is quite surprising. Even if they’re comfortable/happy with my level of modesty and my religiousness etc etc. the fact that I live alone always weighs heavily on the conversation. These are mostly men/families of men who live in the MENA region but also not in their home countries.
And while I’m sure there’s men out there who also do live in Europe alone and take care of their deen, the majority of the ones I’ve come across have been a little too Europeanized/open minded for me and I genuinely have no idea where to find the others.
I’m kinda bummed and idk what to do